Taster's Choice: Splendido crowned top biscotti

My mother's friend, Barbara, loves to entertain, but constantly frets about her skills and limited repertoire. We always say, however, that it doesn't really matter - what she knows how to do she does quite well.

She mastered spaghetti with marinara sauce years ago, broils with the best of them, and at dessert, she gets smart. She serves each guest an individually wrapped piece of biscotti, places a bowl of grapes in the center of the table, and calls it a day.

The crunchy, moon-shaped cookies look fancy, require no effort, and are the perfect accompaniment to coffee or tea. Plus, having been twice-baked, most of the brands are relatively shelf-stable and long-lasting. Given the number of varieties on the market, it's clear that Barbara's easy dessert has become quite popular over the years.

For our tasting, we chose anise-flavored biscotti, which were found across most brands. All were studded with almonds and boasted that familiar licorice flavor, and some included whole crunchy anise seeds baked right into the dough.

With the exception of one national brand, biscotti at Bay Area markets are made locally, from Oakland to Clovis (Fresno County) and locations in between. For the most part, the products look artisan and homemade.

The panel favorite was Splendido brand ($6.59/8 ounces at Draeger's), which tasters called "delicious" and said had a "great homemade look." Most felt they had a "really crunchy texture and good balance of anise." "Where's my espresso?" demanded one panelist. Three would buy this brand, one might, and one would not.

Second-place Biscotti di Suzy ($6.49/8 ounces at Andronico's) were described as "dense, but softly crunchy," with a "nice anise flavor." One taster said the cookies had a "nice buttery taste," but another said the "crumb is uneven and tunneled." Two would buy these biscotti and three might.

La Biscotteria brand ($10.99/10 ounces at Mollie Stone's) came in third. The panel was divided on these cookies, which some found "crispy," "crunchy and toasty," with a "good balance of almond and anise." Others said the biscotti were a "scary brown color," and "sweet, with no other flavor." Three might buy them, and two would not.

Two brands tied for fourth. Mass-produced and individually wrapped Nonni's ($3.79/5.52 ounces at Safeway) were "crunchy and sweet," with a "pleasant anise flavor," though one taster felt they had a "zwieback-like texture," with "too much baking soda." One would buy this brand and four would not. Rosetti's ($6.99/8 ounces at Andronico's) were labeled as "sweet and crumbly," and one taster said "the anise flavor lingers pleasantly." A few commented on the fact that there was "too much vanilla," and some said the cookies were "too dry." One would buy these, one might and three would not.

Anise biscotti

Splendido76

Biscotti di Suzy 68

La Biscotteria 49

Nonni's 48

Rosetti's 48

Allegria 41

Via Calabria 11

Panelists were John Carroll, cookbook author, San Francisco; Stacy Finz, San Francisco Chronicle Food and Wine Writer; Marc Halperin, culinary director, Center for Culinary Development, San Francisco; Cindy Lee, San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Assistant; and Roland Passot, chef-owner, La Folie and five Left Banks. All products are tasted blind; a perfect score would be 100. Prices listed are the lowest found, but products may be available at other stores.